Bill-file.



PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

G. H. MAURER.

BILL FILE.

AIPLIOATION rum) SEPT. 6.1904. R

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No. 794,994. PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

- e. H. MAURBR.

\ BILL FILE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6,1904.

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muemtoz witflzowo I Geo 9 H; Te I". MKW m I Qttozncq 4 NITED STATES Patented July 18, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

BILL-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,994, dated July 18, 1905.

Application filed September 6, 1904. Serial No. 223,481.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. MAURER, a citizen of the United States, residing at No. 611 Seventh street northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bill-Files, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bill-files which cut out the openings in bills, letters, or the like when they are placed upon the serrated upper ends of vertical tubes seated in the base or back of the bill-file and extending through said base or back, near the upper portion of the latter, so that the hook-shaped cuttingarms, connected at their lower ends by an integral cross-rod, or cross-piece, may be operated within vertically-disposed side guides connected with a base-plate secured to the face of the file-back, board, or base, near. the upper end of the latter, and occupying the intermediate portion of the board, back, or base, from the upper end edge of said board, and extending downwardly therefrom to openings made through said board, which openings aline with vertical bottomless tubes secured in a face-plate which carries the cuttinghooks, which latter after engaging the paper, bill, or the like cutout small disk-shaped portions of the same and force them down into the tubes, repetitions of the operation forcing other disks of paper down the tubes until the disks have sufficiently accumulated therein to force thelowermost disks out atthelower ends of said bottomless tubes. The operating-lever is hinged at its forward edge to the baseplate in any suitable manner, as by staples or the like, and the operating-lever, connected with the cross-rod of the curved cutters or punches (not punoturers) by forwardly-projecting curved arms, serve to throw or operate the hooks in connection with the serrated vertical bottomless tubes, so that the paper out out of the bills or letters will, while accumulating in said tubes, be forced down and out at the lower ends of said bottomless tubes by the impact of the paper disks upon the paper disks already within the tubes, so that by operating the lever upon the newly-placed bill or the like the cut-out portions will be forced out at the lower ends of the cuttingtubes. The vertical side guides prevent lateral play of the cutting-hooks, so that they invariably enter the mouths of the bottomless tubes and insure absolute cuts of the paper to be perforated or cut out. The hooks permit the papers, letters, &c., to be turned up thereon for inspection at any time before removal therefrom. In this connection is provided a removal or take-off frame. having arms which may be" inserted into the tubes, and consequently through the perforations made in the papers by the hooks, in conjunction with said tubes. This take-off frame has a base-rod and integral vertically-extended hook-rods which are engaged by a looped spring provided with end hooks for engaging the loops or eyes at the upper ends of the vertically-extended rods, so that by inserting the vertical rods into said vertical tubes while the bills or letters yet remain upon the billfile the looped spring may be engaged with the hooks or loops at the upper ends of the vertically-extended rods and the papers may be removed and filed away for future use or reference.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a bill-file embody improvements of my invention. Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the take-off frame and the looped spring connected therewith through. its hook-arms. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the tubes and hook-arms in full lines, the operating-lever in section, both the operating-lever and hooks being shown also in dotted lines in initial and secondary positions. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on line 4 4 in Fig. 3 looking from the direction the arrows point in Fig. 3, showing the letters, bills, &c., in position on the bill-file. Fig.5 is a detail view showing the hooks and their integral connection detached from the bill-file. Fig. 6 is a detached plan view of the operatinglever. Fig. 7 is a detail view in perspective of one of the vertically-disposed side guides within which the connected hooks ride vertically as well as partially rotary when the controlling-lever is operated.

Referring by numeral to the accompanying drawings, 1 is the base, back, or body of the bill-file, which serves to support the operative mechanism secured thereon, and this base, as shown in Fig. 4, is provided with vertically-disposed circular openings 2, extending entirely therethrough. The faceplate 3 is secured by screws, rivets, or the like to the face of the file-back near the upper end of the face-plate, the upper end edge of said face-plate occupying substantially the middle two-thirds portion laterally near the upper portion of said file-back. The operating-lever 4 is substantially spade shape in outline, the handle 5 being formed integral therewith and provided near its upper end with an opening 5, which permits the entire device when put together properly to be suspended from a hook or nail when necessary and not in use in filing or inspecting bills and letters. The side guides 6 and 7 oppose each other and have vertical half-tubes 8 and 9 provided with integral vertical flanges 10, eX tending in the direction of the length of the file-back, the upper portions of said halftubes and their integral flanges 6 being cut away or made shorter than the lower or inner portions of the same in order to permit the vertically-movable rock-shaft 13 to be turned back and the hooks 3O 31, extended above the upper end edge of the file-back, to permit of the inspection or removal of papers from the bill-file. The lower portions of said side guides 6 and 7 are provided with integral outwardly-projecting lugs 14 15, which are provided with holes to receive screws or rivets 16, by which the said side guides are secured to the face-plate 3. Vertically-disposed bottomless tubes 17 and 18 are secured to the face-plate 3 near the two corners of said plate at its lower longitudinal line and communicate with circular openings 2, extending entirely through the file-back to per mit said bottomless tubes 17 and 18 to be emptied of the paper disks accumulating therein. The upper ends of said bottomless tubes 17 and 18 are serrated or provided with teeth 21, which encircle the mouth of said tubes and project in alinement with the circumference of said tubes and permit the cutting ends of said hooks 30 31 to enter vertically the serrated upper ends of said tubes 17 and 18 for a short distance and not only assist in cutting out disks from the paper, but

also in forcing the disks thus cut down into the tubes, and when said disks have accumulated sufficiently in said tubes to force the lowermost disks out at the open lower ends of said tubes in order to make room for the .paper disks that are to follow.

The papers accumulating on the bottomless tubes may at any time be moved upwardly along said tubes, and while the hooks 3O 31 are in engagement with the upper ends of said bottomless tubes the paper, letters, or the like may be moved from said tubes up and upon the said hooks one at a time for in-' spection or all at one time when necessary to remove them. The take-ofl wire 32 is angularly bent and has parallel depending arms 33 34, provided with loops 35 at their ends, which loops are designed to and do engage with the inwardly-projecting fingers 36 of a centrally looped wire 37 The depending arms 33 34, while the papers are resting on the file-back and the bottomless tubes are projecting upwardly through them, are inserted into the tubes, and the papers are lifted or moved up onto said depending arms, after which the arms of the take-off wire are engaged by the fingers 36 of the take-ofl' wire, and the papers, &c., may be then lifted from the file-back and suspended from a hook or nail to relieve the bill-file from the accumulation of papers and may be inspected afterward and later filed away for future reference, if desirable. The take-off frame or wire virtually forms a temporary binder after it has been used to remove or lift the bills, &c., from the file-back and may be kept at hand for temporary use before being filed away.

The vertical cuts made by the hook-arms in connection with the serrated bottomless vertical tubes are assisted by the grooved and flanged vertical shouldered side guides for the reason that the upward and downward movements of the operating-lever permit or cause both a vertical and rocking motion of the integral connecting-rod, from which the hooks project upwardly, and throw said hooks vertically and rearwardly when said operating-lever is raised and moves them forwardly over the bottomless tubes and, further, throws their cutting ends vertically downwardly into i the serrated mouths of the bottomless tubes when said lever is operated to move downwardly or has been depressed, thereby not only causing the disks to be cut from the papers, but also forces the accumulating disks out at the open lower ends'of said tubes, so

that papers can be cut out as rapidly as filed without danger of choking said bottomless tubes. 1

The short hook-arms 50, formed integral with and projecting below and forwardly upon the lower face and at the edges of the operating-lever, engage the face-plate connecting the cutting-hooks and cause it to both lower and raise or lift said cutting-hooks and insure their proper action in connection with the serrated bottomless tubes when said lever is operated upon the bills resting upon the upper ends of the serrated bottomless tubes before referred to.

While I have shown as one form of the structure an operating-lever 4:, I desire to state in this connection that this lever is only one form for the manipulation of the device and that I do employ a form of structure in which the lever is omitted and the hands of the operator are used to force the books 30 31 down through the paper or papers into the serrated tubes 21, dispensing entirely with said lever, if desirable, while I may and do in many instances retain the lever as a component part of this structure.

It should be noticed that the lower edge of the operating-lever I isconnected with the face-plate 3 by staples 60, seated in the faceplate 3 and passed through openings near the lower edge of the operating-lever 4 and practically serving as hinges for said operating-lever.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a bill-file, of the class described, the combination of the file-back; the face-plate secured thereon near the upper end edge of the file-back; the flanged. and shouldered side guides connected to said face-plate; the bottomless tubes serrated at their upper ends and secured in said face-plate in alinement with openings in said file-back; cutting-hooks formed integral with a cross-rod; a shovelshaped operating-lever hinged at its lower edge to said face-plate, and provided with hook-arms made integral therewith, projecting from its lower face, at the edges of the latter, and engaging the cross-rod connecting said cutting-hooks for imparting both vertical and rock motion to said cutting-hooks, and

guiding the cutting ends of said cutting-hooks vertically down into the serrated mouths of said bottomless tubes, to cut disks from a paper and force said disks down into the bottomless tubes, and, as accumulated, out at the alined openings in said file-back; substantially as specified.

2. In a bill-file, of the class described, the combination of the file-back; the flanged and shouldered side guides connected to said faceplate; the bottomless tubes serrated at their upper ends and secured in said face-plate in alinement with openings in said file-back; cutting-hooks formed integralwith a cross-rod; said cutting-hooks having both a vertical and a rocking motion when operated by handpressure and having cutting ends that enter the serrated mouths of said bottomless tubes, to cut disks from a paper and force said disks down into the bottomless tubes, and as accumulated therein to force said disks out at the bottomless tubes, and through openings in said file-back, which openings are in alinement with said bottomless tubes; substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE H. MAURER.

Witnesses:

L. M. Gow'rALD, ADALINE BOYCE. 

